UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer is under mounting pressure from his own party, with many Labour MPs calling for his resignation after a series of missteps and disastrous local election results in early May. Against this backdrop, Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham has unexpectedly announced an ambitious plan: to win a parliamentary seat in Ashton-in-Makerfield, a town in northern England.
Supporters argue that Burnham is the best candidate to replace Starmer at Labour's annual conference in September. According to an Ipsos poll, Starmer's approval rating is the lowest on record since surveys began in the late 1970s. Although Labour won a landslide in the 2024 general election, it now frequently trails the Reform Party in opinion polls.
Andy Burnham, 56, has been dubbed 'King of the North' by the British press. He is seen as a centre-left figure outside the London political elite, a distinction that makes him stand out and appeal to voters. According to The Times, Burnham's rivals for the leadership race, including the current prime minister, are reportedly being urged to step aside if Burnham wins the by-election.
Despite being viewed as an outsider to the 'Westminster bubble,' Burnham was a prominent member of Prime Minister Gordon Brown's cabinet, serving as both Chancellor and Health Secretary. He has twice run for Labour leader (in 2010 and 2015), but failed both times.
A turning point in Burnham's career came in 2009, when as Culture Secretary he was heckled at a Hillsborough disaster memorial event and later supported an inquiry into the tragedy. This experience made him realise that 'the entire British state had ignored Liverpool's cry for justice for 20 years.'
Since becoming Mayor of Manchester in 2017, Burnham has focused on expanding the city region's autonomy, including control over transport, housing, and skills training. He established the Bee Network – a publicly managed bus system – and launched initiatives to address homelessness. During the COVID-19 pandemic, his clashes with central government over lockdown funding earned him the 'King of the North' moniker.
On foreign policy, Burnham called for a ceasefire in Gaza in October 2023, diverging from the stance of most of the Labour Party at the time. He has criticised illegal Israeli settlements and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and visited the West Bank in 2012. However, he has been a member of Labour Friends of Israel since 2015, once stating that if elected party leader, his first state visit would be to Israel, and regarding the boycott movement against Israel as 'malicious.'
Burnham voted in favour of the Iraq War and twice opposed an inquiry into it, though he later acknowledged the war 'caused enormous harm to innocent civilians.' He has criticised Brexit and hopes the UK will rejoin the EU. He is also a strong supporter of NATO, threatening to resign from Jeremy Corbyn's government if Corbyn decided to leave the alliance.
However, Burnham's path to 10 Downing Street remains fraught with obstacles. A by-election date has not yet been set, and the far-right Reform Party is surging. Reform leader Nigel Farage has vowed to 'go all out' in the Ashton-in-Makerfield by-election. So, despite being hailed as 'King of the North,' a 'coronation' at Westminster is far from guaranteed.
